What to Expect When Your Pet has Surgery

Dogs and cats usually need to be fasted the night before any anesthetic procedure. This is to prevent any
regurgitation or vomiting of food during anesthesia which could be inhaled and cause breathing
problems or pneumonia. Water can generally be left out until right before bringing your pet to the
hospital but no food should be offered after midnight. If your pet takes medication with food a very
small amount of food can be given (1 tsp or less).

Exotic patients (rabbits, guinea pigs, birds, reptiles) are not fasted before anesthetic procedures and
should be fed and watered as usual.

Patients that are taking medications should be given their usual dosages of medication unless otherwise
instructed by their veterinarian. A very small amount of food can be given with the medication if needed
for the patient to accept it.

If you have not already received an email including it, you will be asked to fill out some paperwork. This
includes a treatment plan which is an itemized list of what will be done for the day and the anticipated
costs. A treatment plan also acts as a permission form and provides consent to have the procedure
performed on your pet. We must have a completely filled out and signed treatment plan in order to
proceed with any procedure. Just like when people go to the hospital, a CPR form is also required. Even
though we do our absolute best to provide the best outcomes, surgery and anesthesia are never 100%
risk free. Should the need arise a CPR form tells the medical team if you would like emergency
resuscitation performed on your pet or not. Depending on the procedure being performed there are
other forms that will be provided as well.

Please read over all forms carefully and sign everyplace that is required. Failure to fill out forms properly
will result in delays or even cancellation of procedures.

Generally we ask that all surgery patients be dropped off around 8 am the morning of their procedure.
Every patient needs to be weighed, examined, and have their surgical and anesthetic plan made by the
veterinarian in charge for the day. Having plenty of time to make these plans and carefully examine each
patient ensures that each one receives the proper, individualized care that they need in order to have
the safest procedure and best outcome possible.

Many owners are concerned that their pet will be afraid or lonely while they wait for their surgery, this is
not the case. Each patient is given pre-anesthetic medication to ensure they are calm, pain free, and
comfortable while they wait. Anesthesia tends to make patients feel nauseous after surgery and so every
patient is also given an anti-nausea injection which lasts 24 hours. While waiting for their surgery all
patients are monitored closely and receive lots of attention and care.

The order that surgeries are performed depends on several factors. The most important one is the
severity of illness or urgency of the surgical procedure. The sickest patients or those that need
immediate surgery are always scheduled before routine procedures. We also order surgeries based on
when they arrive at the hospital in the morning. Some patients require more intensive care than others
or must have a different surgical procedure than was originally anticipated and this is unpredictable.
Because of this fact, giving exact times for when a surgery will start and be completed is difficult. There
are times when we can start a procedure much earlier than anticipated and others when it must be
pushed to later in the day. This is another reason why we have all surgery patients check into the hospital
in the morning- that way we can start them as early as possible if circumstances change.

Just like for humans, all surgical patients will have an IV catheter placed to provide fluids and medication
during the procedure. A small patch of fur will be shaved above their wrist so the catheter can be placed
without contaminating it. Your pet may have a bandage or wrap around the area where the catheter was
placed, you may remove this once your pet is at home. A small amount of bruising or redness can be
present at the site of the catheter and should resolve in a few days

Most surgeries are outpatient procedures and patients can go home later the same day. Monitoring
patients after surgery is vitally important and discharges do not happen until the patient is fully awake,
has a normal body temperature, and can walk on their own. The amount of time it takes for a patient to
be ready to discharge varies from patient to patient and procedure to procedure. The veterinarian will be
able to provide a more exact timeline after a procedure is completed.

Your veterinarian will provide you with care instructions and go over any medications or treatments that
need to be done at home. Please ensure that you read over these instructions carefully and ask any
questions that you have about the procedure or aftercare. The care that patients receive at home is just
as important as that in the hospital and failure to follow instructions can result in complications such as
delayed healing, infection, bleeding, or need for repeat surgery.